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Menopause
| The 'PHYTO' Approach - 4 June 2000 |
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Helen, a university administrator, lives with her husband Eric and her two daughters Sally and Marie. I started getting menopausal symptoms when I was 45 and for years I felt I was living just half a life. I suffered tiredness to the point of collapse, excessive bloating, wind, breast tenderness, pain on ovulation and a gradual loss of interest in sex. I felt totally miserable. |
The way I felt affected everything about my life, including my relationships with my family and friends. I used to have such a lot of energy, but found it more and more difficult to cope. That made me feel depressed and reduced me to tears. Eric was sympathetic, but at the same time he was bewildered by the way I had changed. Because I had lost so much self-confidence I couldn't open up to him, which made him feel shut out.
The girls would say: 'Oh, mum's having one of her funny turns again' or 'She's in a bad mood again'. It was very upsetting. I'd been to the doctor when the symptoms started and he did tests, but said I hadn't reached the menopause. So I stuck it out for five years until the doctor finally thought HRT would help me.
I felt very uneasy about it partly because my mother had had breast cancer although, thankfully, she recovered. But the doctor said the benefits from HRT would far outweigh the risk of breast cancer in my case. He put me on Prempac C which is oestrogen and progestogen. For the first three months I felt wonderful - but then some of the symptoms returned. My stomach seemed to be 10 times bigger, my clothes wouldn't fit, I felt frumpy and ugly. I had headaches and migraines. My skin became dry.
I hated the way I felt. I thought my natural periods might have stopped and I wanted to find out. In fact my periods didn't resume. What I had instead were hot flushes about 12 times a day due to the oestrogen withdrawal. The heat would start in my stomach and envelop my whole body for several minutes. Afterwards I'd get this cold, clammy feeling, like someone walking over my grave. After two months I thought: 'I've had enough. I'm going to take control of my body'.
I'd always been interested in self-help remedies. I knew of the Natural Health Advisory Service and went for a consultation in January. They put me on their Natural Menopause Programme, which included a change in diet, plus exercise and relaxation. They took me off wheat and caffeine. I was told to eat nuts and pulses and soya-based foods, plus fresh fruit and vegetables three times a day. I was prescribed multi-vitamins and supplements to overcome the hot flushes and guard against osteoporosis. Within a week I felt a difference. The hot flushes disappeared and I had bags more energy. I felt more positive, more relaxed and far more happy.
Eric
is delighted to see the return of the wife he always knew, especially
as my libido is returning. I know it's a cliche, but I really do feel
like a new woman. I've got my life back and for the first time in
years I feel positive about the future.
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